Morgan State University Chair
Dr. Donald C. Helm

Dr. Donald Helm received his M.S. in Geological Engineering and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of California Berkeley. Dr. Helm is recognized internationally as the foremost authority in his field of aquifer mechanics. His computer code COMPAC is used on five continents and remains the standard against which the results of more recent, but less precise, codes are compared. Currently, Helm is serving as advisor to a doctoral student at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, whose dissertation topic has been to introduce Helm's new theory of poroviscosity to the computer code COMPAC. His research through the years has been supported from a large mix of both private companies and government agencies.

Dr. Helm has worked as a research hydrologist in the Water Resources Division of the US Geological Survey for a cumulative total of more than fifteen years. For six years, he worked for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which includes serving as group leader of the Geohydrology and Environmental Studies Group. This group consisted of about one dozen researchers with doctorates from leading national universities. Dr. Helm also worked as the Principal Research Scientist in groundwater mechanics in the Division of Geomechanics of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia's premier research institution.

More recently, Dr. Helm was a professor of geology at the University of Nevada, Reno. During this tenure, Dr. Helm also served as Chief of the Las Vegas Office of Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, which functions as the Nevada State Geological Survey. Since 1990, all of his graduate students have been fully supported by his research projects. His areas of interest include mathematics, applied physics, geophysics, hydrology, contaminant migration, geology and engineering (soil mechanics, rock mechanics, and groundwater hydraulics). At Nevada, he taught graduate subjects such as aquifer mechanics, which are not covered in the standard textbooks.

Dr. Helm is a fellow of both the Geological Society of America and The Institution of Engineers, Australia (College of Civil Engineers). He has received a number of honors including the Bennet-Tyler Award in Systematic Theology, two nominations for the Horton Award by the Groundwater Committee of the America Geophysical Union, and the award for most outstanding paper of the year (1994) from the Association of Engineering Geologists.

Dr. Helm's area of concentration at Berkeley was the hydraulics of multi-phase flow beneath the land surface. Beginning with his dissertation research on the topic of land subsidence due to fluid withdrawal, he has had an ongoing dedication to the secrets of aquifer mechanics. Dr. Helm's research has taken him to India, Australia, China, Taiwan, Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela, as well as throughout the western U.S.A.

A Discussion with Dr. Helm on Program Goals

"We are mindful of the challenges related to environmental cleanup in the Massie Chair Program at Morgan State University. We place special emphasis on approaching environmental problems in a practical, task-oriented way, with a view on prevention. There is a strong interest in urban environmental matters, environmental justice, and history studies as they relate to local environmental impacts. Our environmental research at Morgan State University includes aquifer mechanics, contaminant transport, geo-engineering, hydrogeology, site characterization, bioremediation, soil remediation, surface water and ground water hydrology, environmental engineering, low-emission/high-efficiency combustion energy systems, risk assessment, land subsidence, earthquake engineering, the generation of porosity heterogeneities within the vadose zone, modeling and simulation using high-performance computers, and more. One of the desired outcomes is to have sustainable research and teaching activities within the area of environmental studies that are capable of attracting and supporting quality graduate students within the fledgling graduate program of the engineering school. Both conducting word-class research and sending well-trained engineers into the national workforce who are able to recognize and capable of helping to alleviate future environmental problems are among our greatest thrusts."

Recent Publications in Refereed Journals

  1. "Mechanisms of Earth Fissuring Caused by Groundwater Withdrawal," Z.P. Sheng and D.C. Helm, Environmental and Engineering Geology, 2003.
  2. "Study on a Dynamic Stress and Strain Constitutive Law of Clay," Ding, D., J. Li, and D.C. Helm, in Lee and others(eds.), Soft Soil Engineering, 2002.
  3. "Using an Analytic Solution to Estimate the Subsidence Risk Caused by ASR applications," Li, J., and Helm, D.C., Environmental and Engineering Geoscience, 2001.
  4. "Fissures in Yucca Flay Dry Lake Bed, Nevada Test Site, Chapter 5," Helm, D.C., in Looney, B.B., Falta, R.W. (eds.) Vadose Zone: Science and Technology Solutions, Battelle Press, Columbus, Ohio, 2001.
  5. "A Nonlinear Viscous Model For Aquifer Compression Associated With ASR Applications," Li, J, and Helm, D.C. in Carbognin, L., Gambolati, G., and Johnson, A.I.(eds.) Land Subsidence, 2000.
  6. "Modeling Three-Dimensional Deformation in Response to Pumping of Unconsolidated Aquifers," T.J. Burbey and D.C. Helm, Environmental and Engineering Geoscience, 1999.
  7. "Viscous Drag, Driving Forces, and Their Reduction to Darcy's Law," J. Li, and D.C. Helm, Water Resources Research, 1998.
  8. "An Analytic Solution for Subsidence Due to Pumping-Injecting Activity," J. Li, and D.C. Helm, Proceedings of the 8th International Congress of the Internat. Assoc. for Engg. Geol. and the Envir., 1998.
  9. "Controlling Factors for Earth Fissures Caused by Ground Water Withdrawal," Sheng, Z., and D.C. Helm, Proceedings of the 8th International Congress of the Internat. Assoc. for Engg. Geol. and the Envir., 1998.
  10. "Poroviscosity," D.C. Helm, Assoc. of Engg. Geologists Special Publ. # 8, Land Subsidence Case Histories and Current Research: Proceedings of the Dr. J.F. Poland Symposium on Land Subsidence, 1998.
  11. "A Theory for Dynamic Motion of Saturated Soil Characterized by Viscous Behavior," J. Li, and D.C. Helm, Assoc. of Engg. Geologists Special Publ. # 8, Land Subsidence Case Histories and Current Research: Proceedings of the Dr. J.F. Poland Symposium on Land Subsidence, 1998.
  12. "Multiple Steps of Earth Fissuring Caused by Ground Water Withdrawal," Z. Sheng and D.C. Helm, Assoc. of Engg. Geologists Special Publ. # 8, Land Subsidence Case Histories and Current Research: Proceedings of the Dr. J.F. Poland Symposium on Land Subsidence,1998.
  13. "Ground Cracking on Quaternary Faults in Nevada - Hydraulic or Tectonic?" J.W. Bell and D.C. Helm, Assoc. of Engg. Geologists Special Publ. # 8, Land Subsidence Case Histories and Current Research: Proceedings of the Dr. J.F. Poland Symposium on Land Subsidence, 1998.
  14. "Land Subsidence Due to Ground Water Withdrawal in Hanoi, Vietnam," T.Q. Nguyen and D.C. Helm, Assoc. of Engg. Geologists Special Publ. # 8, Land Subsidence Case Histories and Current Research: Proceedings of the Dr. J.F. Poland Symposium on Land Subsidence, 1998.
  15. "Numerical Formulation of Dynamic Behavior Within Saturated Soil Characterized by Elasto-Viscous Behavior with an Application to Las Vegas Valley," J. Li and D.C. Helm, Proceedings of the 9th Internat. Conf. Of the Assoc. for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, 1997.
  16. "Horizontal Aquifer Movement of a Theis-Thiem Confined System," D.C. Helm, Water Resources Research, 1994.
  17. "Displacement Discontinuity Modeling of Fissuring Caused by Groundwater Withdrawal in Siriwardine," Z.P. Sheng and D.C. Helm, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of the Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, 1994.
  18. "Computerized Data Management System for Evaluating Subsidence Predictions," D.C. Helm, Proceedings of the International Workshop on Groundwater and Environment, 1992.

Professional Organizations/Associations

New York Academy of Sciences 1996-present

American Society of Civil Engineers 1972-77, 1996-present

American Society of Mechanical Engineers 1996-present

National Society of Professional Engineers 1995-present (Member, State Board of Directors)

Maryland Society of Professional Engineers 1996-present (Pres., Baltimore Chapter)

International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering 1987-present

International Society of Rock Mechanics 1987-present

International Association of Engineering Geology 1987-present

International Association of Hydrogeologists 1987-present

The Institution of Engineers, Australia (Fellow) (College of Civil Engineers) 1987-present

American Geophysical Union 1972-84, 1996-present

National Ground Water Association 1966-69, 1972-77, (formerly, National Water Well Association) 1996-present

American Water Resources Association 1996-present

Association of Engineering Geologists 1972-78, 1992-present

The Geological Society of America (Fellow) 1989-present (Hydrogeology Division) (Engineering Geology Division)

Australian Geomechanics Society 1987-present

Nevada Water Resources Association 1989-present

Association of Geoscientists for International Development 1975-83

American Association for the Advancement of Science 1990-93

American Society for Testing and Materials 1981-83

Society of Exploration Geophysicists 1968-69

List of Accomplishments

2002-1999

Citizen Citation from Martin O'Malley, Mayor of Baltimore, for public service through the Greater Baltimore Committee (Water/Waste Water Subcommittee)

Massie Chairs Program Award for Outstanding Research and Educational Accomplishments

1998-1996

Board of Directors, Maryland Society of Professional Engineers

1995-1993

Award for Best Paper of the Previous Year in Environmental and Engineering Geology from the Association of Engineering Geologists

Engraved Certificate of Appreciation, Chinese (Taiwanese) Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering

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